Heated refrigerator door seal



June 12, 1962 K. K. IKESLING 3,038,319

' HEATED REFRIGERATOR DOOR SEAL Filed Feb. 26, 1958 Keith K Kes/fng. fig z I His A t'rorney United States Patent iiice 3,038,319 Patented June12, 1962 tors Corporation, Detroit, Mich, a corporation of DelawareFiled Feb. 26, 1953, Ser. No. 717,672 3 Claims. (Cl. 62-275) Thisinvention relates to refrigerating apparatus and more particularly to arefrigerator door seal having a strip heater incorporated therein forpreventing the condensation of moisture on the door seal and thesurfaces adja cent the door seal.

It is an object of this invention to provide a strip heater which may berepaired or replaced without removing the usual breaker strip at thefront edge of the refrigerator cabinet.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a simple singlestrip heater arrangement which will not only prevent sweating of thedoor jamb but will also prevent sweating of the door itself as well asthe sealing strip.

More particularly it is an object of this invention to provide a sealingstrip for a refrigerator door wherein a strip heater is incorporated inthe door seal so as to extend around the entire edge of the dooropening.

Further objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparentfrom the following description, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings, wherein preferred embodiments of the present invention areclearly shown.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view showing a household refrigeratorincorporating the invention;

FIGURE 2 is a fragmentary sectional view showing the relationshipbetween the strip heater and the door seal in one embodiment of theinvention;

FIGURE 3 is a sectional view of a modified type of door seal;

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary perspective view showing still anothermodification;

FIGURE 5 is a fragmentary elevational view with parts broken awayillustrating the arrangement of the strip heater preparatory to miteringone corner of a door seal; and

FIGURE 6 is a fragmentary plan view with parts broken away showing themitered corner of a door seal.

Referring now to the drawing wherein a preferred embodiment of theinvention is shown, reference numeral 10 designates a conventionalrefrigerator cabinet having a door 12 provided for closing the frontopening of the cabinet. As shown in FIGURE 2, the cabinet 10 includesthe usual inner liner 11 and insulation material 13 in the space betweenthe inner and outer walls of the cabinet. The door 12 includes the usualinner panel 15 and insulation material '17 between the inner and outerwalls of the door. An extruded rubber-like door seal 14 is carried bythe door in the conventional manner and is arranged to seal the dooropening when the door is in its closed position. For purposes ofillustration, FIG- URE 2 shows a door seal of the type which is held inplace by means of a door seal clamping bracket 16 whereas the door sealcould be held in place in any other well-known manner.

The seal 14 incorporates a strip heater 18 which extends the full lengthof the seal and serves to maintain the door seal heated at all times soas not only to prevent condensation of moisture on that portion of thedoor seal exposed to the room air but also to prevent the accumulationof moisture on the door and cabinet surfaces 20 and 22 respectivelywhich are located adjacent the door seal. It will be noted that thestrip heater 18 shown in FIGURE 2 is mounted in a pocket 24 provideddirectly in the door seal 14 whereby the strip heater is at all times inintimate thermal exchange relationship with the material forming thedoor seal. The heater 18 is connected in the usual manner to aconventional power source which has not been shown. The door seal servesto conduct a portion of the heat to the surfaces 20 and 22 contacted bythe door seal and thereby prevent the exposed surfaces 20 and 22 frombecoming cold enough to cause moisture in the room air to condensethereon.

By virtue of the above described arrangement it is apparent that thesingle strip heater 18 is supported directly by the door seal withoutthe need for extra mounting clips and the like and is effective to heatnot only the exposed door seal surface but also the surfaces 20 and 22.

FIGURE 3 of the drawing shows a slightly modified door seal arrangementwherein the strip heater 18 is mounted in a pocket 32 formed directly inthe sealing strip 34. It will be noted that the pocket 32 is open to theoutside so as to facilitate insertion and removal of the heater strip 18after the sealing strip has been attached to the refrigerator door. Itwill also be noted that the pocket 32 is so arranged that when the dooris closed the sealing strip is pressed into firm engagement with thestrip heater 18.

FIGURE 4 of the drawings shows still another arrangement wherein thestrip heater 18 is placed directly within the bulb cavity 40 of aconventional sealing strip 42. The strip heater 18 in each of theembodiments illustrated herein includes a metallic heater core 44 and aninsulating sheath 46 as best shown in FIGURE 4. Strip heaters of thistype are now well known and need no further description.

FIGURES 5 and 6 illustrate how it is possible to miter the corners ofsealing strips having strip heaters incorporated therein as shown inFIGURE 4 for example. As best shown in FIGURE 5, the sealing strip 42 isprovided with an elongated slot 50 at the point where it is desired toform a mitered corner. The first step in mitering the strip would be topull a portion 54 of the strip heater '18 out through the slot 50 so asnot to interfere with cutting the main body of the sealing strip alongthe line 52 and then to out along the dotted lines 52. After the striphas been out along the lines 52 it can be bent into the form shown inFIGURE 6 and the meeting edges can be vulcanized to one another as at 56or otherwise bonded together in accordance with well-known practice.After the corner has been properly vulcanized or bonded together theexcess loop material 54 would of course be pulled back into the interiorof the bulb portion of the seal.

In each of the above described arrangements it will be observed that thestrip heater 18 is arranged in direct thermal exchange relationship withsome portion of the sealing strip so as to cause the sealing strip tobecome heated and to conduct heat to those surfaces of the refrigeratorwhich need to be heated so as to prevent moisture from the room aircondensing on these surfaces.

The refrigerator shown in FIGURE 1 is intended to represent aconventional refrigerator wherein a conventional refrigerant systemincluding a refrigerant evaporator 60 is arranged for cooling theinterior of the usual food compartment of the refrigerator and whereinliquid refrigerant is adapted to be supplied to the evaporator by meansof conventional refrigerant liquefying apparatus 62 mounted in the lowerportion of the cabinet 10 in the usual manner.

While the forms of embodiment of the invention as herein disclosedconstitute preferred forms, it is to be understood that other formsmight be adopted, as may come within the scope of the claims whichfollow.

What is claimed is as follows:

1. In a refrigerator, a cabinet member having an insulated food storagecompartment provided with an opening in one wall thereof, said cabinetincluding a metallic door jamb member, a metallic door member forclosing said opening, refrigerating apparatus including an evaporatorfor cooling said compartment, a sealing strip carried by one of saidmembers for sealing said door opening and arranged to contact both saiddoor jamb member and said door member in the closed position of saiddoor member, and a strip heater carried by said sealing strip forheating said sealing strip and the adjacent metallic surfaces on saidcabinet member and said door member so as to prevent condensation ofmoisture thereon.

2. In combination a refrigerator cabinet including an outer metallicshell member, an inner shell member, insulation between said inner andouter shell members; said cabinet having an access opening therein; adoor for closing said access opening; said door comprising an outermetallic panel, an inner panel, insulation between said panels; anextruded sealing strip arranged between said door and said cabinet andin physical contact with said door and said cabinet throughoutsubstantially the entire length of said sealing strip when said door isin the closed position for preventing the escape of air between saidcabinet and said door when said door is in closed position; and astripheater carried by said sealing strip arranged to heat said sealing stripand the adjacent metallic surfaces on said cabinet member and said doormember.

3. In a refrigerator, a cabinet member having an insulated food storagecompartment provided with an opening in one wall thereof, said cabinetincluding a door jamb member wherein one.. portion of the door jambmember is exposed to the relatively cold air in said food storagecompartment and another portion of said door jamb member is exposed tothe relatively warm outside air, a door member for closing said opening,refrigerating apparatus including an evaporator for cooling saidcompartment, a sealing strip carried by one of said members and abuttingboth of said members in the closed position of said door member forsealing said door opening, and a strip heater carried by said sealingstrip for heating said sealing strip, said door jamb member and portionsof said door member adjacent said sealing strip so as to preventcondensation of moisture thereon.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,135,091 Newill Nov. 1, 1938 2,420,240 Haggerty May 6, 1 947 2,497,998Lee Feb. 21, 1950 2,507,895 Foxtow May 16, 1950 2,607,091 Dodge Aug. 19,1952 2,644,605 Palmer July 7, 1953 2,690,650 Pichler Oct. 5, 19542,719,907 Combs Oct. 4, 1955 2,811,406 Moore Oct. 29, 1957 2,824,209Leipold Feb. 18, 1958 2,858,408 Barroero Oct. 28, 1958 2,867,862 SquireJan. 13, 1959

